This undated file photo released by the Corbett Tiger Reserve shows a tiger at the reserve in Maharashtra. Photo: AP
The Indian tiger populace estimate currently stands at 1706. Project Tiger, which started off with nine reserves covering an area of 16,339 sq. km and 268 tigers, now has 39 reserves and over one percent of the country’s geographical area dedicated to the Panthera Tigris. In this March 23, 2000 file photo, an Indian tiger looks out from a cover of straw grass at the Ranthambhore National Park, India. File Photo: AP
The Ministry of Environment and Forests’ efforts to revive the species’ dwindling population includes the revision of fund allocation for Project Tiger to Rs.1,216 crore in August 2011. A change in the funding pattern for the North-east — where the States would have to pay only 10 per cent of the total allocation — was also implemented. Here, a tiger walks past a vehicle carrying tourists, at the Ranthambore National Park, India, on October 22, 2010. File Photo: AP
The National Tiger Conservation Authority has been strengthened and decentralised with three Regional Offices at Nagpur, Bengaluru and Guwahati now. Approval has also been given to five more reserves in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Karnataka. In photo: B2, one of the most photographed tigers, at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. File Photo: PTI
A detailed report by the Wildlife Institute of India, the Wildlife Trust of India, and the World Wildlife Fund on the status of tigers, co-predators, and their prey in 2010 showed a countrywide increase of 20 per cent in tiger numbers as against 1,411 tigers in 2006. Photo: PTI
Despite the ministry and wildlife-watchdogs intensfying their efforts, illegal trade of tigers, their parts and products still prevails in the country. According to a joint report by global wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC and the WWF Tigers Alive Initiative, Delhi, Sunderbans, and the Western Ghats are among the hotbeds of illegal tiger-trade. Photo: PTI
The report also recognised Ramnagar in Uttar Pradesh (which sits close to the entrance of Corbett National Park), the towns of Balgahat and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh (where the Kanha and Pench National Park is located), Kolkata and areas spanning south to the edge of the Sunderbans in Bengal, and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghats as other hotspots of illegal tiger trade. File Photo: AP
Delhi has been named as the “most important hub of illegal leopard trade in the country” by the report, as it accounts for more than 26 per cent of all leopards (and leopard products) seized. In this file photo, a pair of tigers enjoy pleasant weather conditions at the Tata Steel Zoological Society in Jamshedpur. Photo: PTI
Illegal tiger trade is just one among the myriad factors contributing to the stymieing of the feline’s population in the country. Increasing population, expanding cities, and the creation of huge tourist infrastructure in tiger lands, too, play a role in pushing the solitude-loving tigers away from their habitat. Photo: AP